Eric's Convention Recap Part 1

This was my first trip to a Republican Convention so I thought it would be cool to give my own perspective.  Most people ask me right off the bat how it was and my answer is always 3 hours of boredom followed by 2 hours of excitement.  Most convention nights I helped move people down from the 200 sections that NJ had down to the 100 section.  A fellow aide to the NJ Delegation would move people from the 100 section down to the floor in the NJ delegation section so this allowed me to move people down from the nose bleeds.  It usually took me about an hour to do this and thanks to the lack of elevators in the Xcel Center it meant walking down several flights of stairs multiple times.  However, while this was going on there of course were the speakers who had the early slots and unfortunately for them very few people actually paid attention, even when it was someone good like Tim Pawlenty or Meg Whitman.  Most people just talked and had their own conversation which for me was very rude.

I was lucky enough to go with NJ not as an alternate delegate but as an aide to the delegation.  I didn't have too much in the way of responsibility other than handing out credentials and moving people around; I especially liked moving people around because they were very grateful.  However, one of the things that irked me a little was that the convention was like attending High School.  Everyone compared credentials, where your seats were, where was your hotel, who did you see, who do you know, and what parties did you attend.  Needless to say being reminded of high school was not a pleasant experience for me. 

NJ and quite a number of other delegations were housed out by the airport and while the accommodations were fine, we were away from the action.  If you were located in Minneapolis you had a night life and if you were in St. Paul you were near the Xcel Center.  The hotel locations of course played into the who had the better credentials scenario.  On Monday I had an urgent request from the McCain team and had to take a $45 cab ride to their hotel in Minneapolis.  However, NJ did a great job making sure the delegation had a fun time including a boat cruise, parties, and a trip to the Metrodome.  ...

The first night in the convention was just a taste of what we were to expect.  Jackie and I went to The Heartland which was an awesome restaurant that only served food grown locally in a gourmet setting.  The second night was good with Fred Thompson giving a great speech and of course Joe Lieberman's speech was historic.  I had a floor pass that night and stayed in the NJ Delegation section for most of the night except when I moved up to Nevada to get better pictures of Senator Lieberman.  I was able to snap some great photos while I was on the floor.

All and all the first two nights were good.  I know that not everyone can be in close hotels or close to the stage, but it definitely contributes to your overall experience as you'll see in my second post tomorrow.

PardonMyFrench,

Eric

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Comments

[Gab Goldenberg]

Very interesting read, Eric. I myself went to the United Jewish Communities' General Assembly about a year ago, and found that there were many similarities to what you describe, although the place shut up pretty well for Condi Rice's speech.

BTW, I'm preparing a post on the early-goings in the search marketing campaigns in our Canadian federal election here. Interested in a guest-post?